48 
IAN D. LUNT 
proportion of grasses probably reflects the elim¬ 
ination of many native forbs — and possibly, to 
a minor extent, the ingress of some native 
grasses — throughout a century of grazing. 
Lake Stanley appears to have formed when 
Boundary Road was constructed on its southern 
edge. From the topography, it is suspected that 
the lake site was originally flooded by shallow 
water for only a short period of the year. 
Consequently, the present distribution and com¬ 
position of mixed-species herbland and 
Amphibromus-Agrostis grassland undoubtedly 
differ from the original. A few shrubs of Mueh- 
lenbeckia cunninghamii survive on the lake 
edges, and this species may originally have dom¬ 
inated above a species-rich herbland. Relict 
swamps dominated by lignum occur elsewhere 
in the region (McDougall 1987). Changes to the 
drainage patterns due to road building, to pug¬ 
ging of the soil by stock, and to the replacement 
of perennial by annual grasses in nearby pad- 
docks, are also likely to have modified the 
original vegetation of the drainage lines. 
Few floristic data are available from compar¬ 
able vegetations in Victoria. Themeda grassland 
at Derrimut is similar in composition to that 
described from grazed paddocks and rail ease¬ 
ments on the basalt plains of western Victoria 
(Groves 1965, Stuwe & Parsons 1977, Stuwe 
1986), and Themeda and Vulpia grasslands 
appear distantly related to the “ Eucalyptus vim- 
inalis/Eucalyptus ovata/Eucalyptus pauciflora- 
Convolvulus erubescens grassy woodland” com¬ 
munity (Eve) in the Midlands of Tasmania 
(Kirkpatrick et al. 1988). Virtually no floristic 
data are available from seasonal wetlands on the 
basalt plains. Wetland vegetations at Derrimut 
are among the “shallow swamps on basalt” 
which are in need of “urgent protection” in Vic¬ 
toria (Frood & Calder 1987), and further surveys 
are urgently required. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
Thanks are due to Bob Parsons for encourage¬ 
ment and assistance throughout the study, to 
Bob Parsons, David Ashton and an anonymous 
referee for comments on the manuscript, and to 
Paul Gullan of the Flora and Fauna Survey 
Group of the Department of Conservation, For¬ 
ests and Lands for access to the classification 
program. 
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